Nado Natterings Back to Islandersports
A weekly column by David Axelson

Nado Natterings
by David Axelson, Chief Executive Officer
The Islander Sports Foundation

28 May 2008 Issue No. 21

It was a busy week for Coronado High School sports, with three teams playing three games each. The Boys and Girls Lacrosse programs both competed in the CIF Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Finals. The Islander Baseball Team won three games as the worked their way through the Division IV Playoffs and the Islander Track Team turned in some fine performances in the CIF Track and Field Finals held at Mt. Carmel.

Leading off this week’s column is the Coronado Baseball Team, which emerged from the first week of their double-elimination post season competition undefeated. Junior hurler Bryan Crabb provided the individual performance of the week, throwing a no-hitter against No. 4 seeded Horizon. Coronado pushed across two runs in the fifth inning to win the game 2-0.

“Bryan didn’t have his best stuff or best rhythm,” said Head Coach Sam Ceci of his staff ace. “But he toughened up every time he had to. Uncharacteristically we had three errors and didn’t give him much defensive support. He got out of every inning.”

According to CHS Baseball stats guru Bill Seager, Crabb joins Kevin Couture (2005 vs. Point Loma) and Joe Thivierge (2003 vs. Crawford) as the only Islander pitchers to throw complete game no-hitters in the last five seasons. In addition, in the three 2008 playoff games to date, the Coronado pitching staff has a combined Earned Run Average of 0.67 runs per game.

It took three trips through the lineup for the Islanders to finally touch up Horizon’s pitcher, junior lefthander Nathan Saquilon. Crabb led off the fifth inning with a triple, thus helping his own cause considerably. Blake Malkemus then hit a long sacrifice fly to center driving in Crabb. Keith Englehart walked, stole second, and scored on a single by leadoff hitter Kyle Pokorny.

Senior Tim Leary was the only Coronado player with two hits in the game. The first was a ringing double down the left field line in the fourth frame. The second was a sharp single to lead off the sixth inning.

Saquilon yielded only five Coronado hits in the game, walked one and struck out six. “He’s formidable,” said Ceci of Saquilon. “Take nothing away from those guys (Horizon). I’m not looking forward to playing them again. He changed speeds and increased his velocity at will. He has an idea of how to attack hitters. It took us a while to figure out that kid. They will play La Jolla Country Day Tuesday and if they win we will see them again Wednesday.”

The week started with the Islanders hosting No. 16 seed High Tech High in the play-in game, a contest that wasn’t easy for Coronado. Down 2-0 through three innings, the Islanders rallied to win 8-2. “They were better than we anticipated,” said Ceci. “There is no doubt that they could have beaten the No. 8 seed Tri-City Christian. High Tech was a solid team. They were a little short on pitching, but they were pretty solid. They could also have beaten Mountain Empire, which was the No. 9 seed.”

The middle game of the week was a lopsided 11-0 victory over the aforementioned Tri-City Christian club. Pokorny, Mason Mills and Alex Rowan all had two-hit games. Leary, Rowan and Sean MacDonald all drove in two runs each. Leary, Kyle Couture, Steve Conrad and Austin Hunter combined to twirl a one-hitter for the home-standing Islanders.

The three Coronado victories last week pushed their record to 24-8 on the season, which is a record number of wins for the CHS baseball program in one year.

In the opposite side of the Division IV bracket, No. 2 seed Christian High School has also emerged undefeated after one week of play. With the Coronado coaching staff in attendance at the game, Christian defeated Mater Dei with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. “Christian has some guys who can hurt you,” said Ceci. “They had three guys with homers in the game. They can get it done. They are a very, very worthy opponent. But we have to get there (the CIF title game) before we worry about that.”

The remaining schedule for the Islanders is fairly simple. Wednesday they will host the winner of Tuesday’s LJCD vs. Horizon game at 3:30 pm. If the Islanders win that game, they advance directly to the Division IV Finals Saturday and play at Tony Gwynn Stadium on the campus of San Diego State University. The Division IV finals will begin at 10 am.

If Coronado loses Wednesday, they must defeat their Wednesday opponent at home Thursday at 3:30 pm to advance to the title game. The good news for Coronado is that by going undefeated the first week of the playoffs, it forces the team that emerges from the loser’s bracket to win consecutive games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, to beat the Islanders out for a slot in the Division IV finals.

Girls Lacrosse Falls 11-10 to La Costa Canyon in CIF Finals Thriller

Going into the CIF Finals against La Costa Canyon, the Islander Girls Lacrosse Team knew they had their work cut out for them. Coronado’s only loss of the regular season came April 7^th to the Mavericks by the score of 9-7.

In the first five minutes of the Finals, played at Ranch Bernardo High School, Coronado took a 2-1 lead on the strength of two goals from Hannah Sebenaler. Greer Goebels assisted on the first tally and Melissa Humphrey on the second.

Then the Mavericks started to put their offensive game together, running off three straight scores. Islander senior Bria Phillips slowed the LCC onslaught briefly with an unassisted goal. The Mavericks found the back of the net two more times to make the score 6-3 before Islander Head Coach Jessica Battle called timeout with 8:56 remaining in the half.

At that point Battle placed goalie Taylor Udell into the lineup and the junior netminder responded immediately with four saves on Maverick shots on goal. Humphrey scored an unassisted Islander goal and the momentum briefly returned to the Coronado side of the field. However, in the final 30 seconds of the half, LCC scored twice to take an 8-4 halftime lead.

Battle would later say of her team, “Not a lot of girls would continue to fight as hard as they did.” The Islanders mounted a comeback by scoring four of the game’s next five goals to close the gap to 9-8. Two minutes into the second half, Goebels scored on an unassisted goal, followed in short order by a scoring effort from freshman Michaela Guerrera. The Mavericks scored, but a Udell save, a Phillips goal from a penalty shot, another Udell save and Phillips’s third goal of the game on a Goebels assist made the score 9-8.

The next two scores belonged to LCC and with 5:30 remaining, the Mavericks had a seemingly insurmountable 11-8 lead. But Coronado wouldn’t quit. Islander goals with 3:18 and 1:30 remaining from Coco O’Brien, both on Phillips assists, made the score 11-10. With 1:13 remaining in the game, Coronado made a defensive stop and had possession with an opportunity to score. An Islander shot attempt at the end of a well-executed play went wide and LCC held on to win.

For their part, LCC became the only team in CIF Girls Lax history to complete a season undefeated, posting a perfect 23-0 mark. Coronado had an amazing year as well, recording a mark of 23-2 and finishing in second place among all schools in the CIF San Diego Section, regardless of size.

Earlier in the week on their path through the playoffs, Coronado defeated Cathedral Catholic 17-8 in the quarter-finals, behind a seven-goal game from senior All-American Goebels. Humphrey scored twice and single goals came from Ally Wolfe, O’Brien, Sandy Shepherd, Jillian Reidy, Guerrera, Jena Harrison, the senior All-American Phillips, and Alex Reidy.

The semi-finals on Thursday saw Coronado defeat La Jolla for the third time this season, this time by the score of 14-8. Phillips scored four goals, with Humphrey, Sebenaler and Guerrera scoring three times each. Goebels, who would later be named the Sportsmanship Award Winner for the CIF Finals, added a single goal.

“All in all it was a fantastic season,” Battle said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the girls. This has been a great team to coach. This season in particular has been exciting for me. It just didn’t end up like we hoped it would. It was a really emotional game for all of them. Everyone played their hardest.”

Battle discussed some specifics of the championship final. “The draw controls were huge for them (LCC). If we could have come up with more draws, we could have won the game. Games like that come down to possession of the ball. If you have it, you will win. Losing Hannah, Greer and Bria (to graduation) is huge. Our comeback was a good testament to our character. This was my Dream Team.”

Finally Battle looked to the future of the program. “We’re going to be good next year. What I find irritating is that the big schools don’t acknowledge that their school is three times the size of ours. La Costa has 12 kids graduating and they have 35 kids waiting in the wings. We’ll still be up there.”

Islander Boys Lacrosse Falls to Mavericks 15-5 In CIF Finals

Unfortunately the similarity between the seasons of the Coronado High School Boys and Girls Lacrosse programs extended to their respective CIF Finals results. Both teams were seeded No. 2 behind La Costa Canyon. The Islander Boys Lax team only had two losses in the regular season. The first was to St. Ignatius from the Bay Area. The second was March 18^th to LCC by the score of 8-6. The two losses came in consecutive games and the Islanders were 1-2 to start the season.

The 2008 Finals marked the first time that the Islander Boys Lax program had reached the finals in the school’s history. Conversely, LCC has competed in six CIF Boys Lax finals. “Every kid on their team had been to three championship games,” said Coronado Head Coach Alex Cade. “Our kids were happy to be there. Experience in a bigger-type game is invaluable. We would have had to play a great game to beat them.”

The Mavericks scored the first six goals of the game and it snowballed from there. The lone score by Coronado in the first half came from Bobby Braun on an assist from Cory Couture. The score at halftime was 6-1.

Curtis Perkins scored the first goal of the second half from another Couture assist, but LCC put the proverbial foot to the metal at this point, scoring four straight goals, including three tallies in 21 seconds at the conclusion of the third quarter. The score at that point was 10-2 and the game was over for all intents and purposes.

But the Islanders continued to compete and sophomore Kodie Englehart scored in the first 90 seconds of the fourth frame. Couture completed his Coronado lax career with two goals near the end of the contest. The first was unassisted and the second goal came from a Braun assist. Couture won the Sportsmanship Award for his efforts in the Finals.

To reach the Finals, the Islanders defeated Cathedral Catholic 11-4 in the quarter-finals. Coronado was led by four goals from Eddie Vita, an effort which included a natural hat trick, of three consecutive Islander goals. Jack Christiansen and Cole McLean both had two goals, with single scores coming from Olivier Schmied, Braun, and Jackson Cusick.

Thursday’s semi-final tilt against Torrey Pines was a great game, with Coronado emerging with the 6-5 victory. Schmied scored three goals, with single scores coming from Englehart, Couture and Vita.

But the play of the game came with 39 seconds remaining in the game, with Coronado protecting a precarious one-goal lead. The Falcons had possession and called timeout to organize a final scoring effort. But Coronado wouldn’t have any of that, as they physically took the game to Torrey Pines with a furious defensive effort and held on for the victory.

“The Torrey Pines game was a hard-fought game,” said Cade. “That defensive stand showed character and guts. We had seniors who stepped up and made the last play of the game. We took the ball from a very good attack man. We have been in four one-goal games in the past to get to the championships. I think the difference between this team and past teams was that we made the play we needed to advance this time.”

“It was a good year,” Cade continued. “We took a step forward with the program. It was unfortunate that we didn’t play our best game in the Finals. I’m real proud of the seniors and excited about the potential of our underclassmen, from the freshmen up. I’ve been watching our eight graders (Coronado Middle School) and I’m looking forward to having them next year as well. The LCC game was a hard fought game. We had a lot of great individual efforts and the kids were tired at the end of the game. We ran into a team that played really well. We just couldn’t get it done.”

Lacrosse Honors and Awards

Stephen Torkington (CHS ’04), a senior midfielder for Wingate (N.C.) University, has been named an All American by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. Torkington played for Coach Alex Cade at CHS and is one of only three California natives to earn a slot on an All American Team at any NCAA level.

CHS Track and Field Season Concludes

CHS Track and Field Head Coach George Green provides a season wrap-up for his Boys and Girls Teams. “Track season finally came to an end for the eight Islanders who made it all the way to the CIF Finals at Mt. Carmel Saturday. The Boys' Team had one of its best-ever results, finishing fourth in Division II out of over 50 schools with Track and Field programs. Only Ramona, University City, and Mt. Miguel scored higher than our 34 points.

“We weren't far out of either the second or third spots as UC placed second with 39.5 points. The closest team from the Central League was Clairemont with three points. An unofficial tally of all schools in the county (Division I and Division II combined) ranks us 11^th overall, in front of giants like Vista, Carlsbad, Poway, and La Costa Canyon. We could never beat one of these large schools in a dual meet because they have more depth, but at the Championship level, team rankings are based on having a few, very good athletes who can place well among all county athletes in their division.

“In our case Kyle Brown's wins in the both the long and triple jumps, Ben Enowitz's second place finish in the 3,200-meter run, and Will Bartsch's tie for second in the pole vault, netted all of our points. Although he was a two-time CIF Division II champion this year, Brown would have traded both awards for a trip to the state meet. Only the top three athletes (both divisions combined) advance to the State Meet and Kyle placed fourth to Division I jumpers in the triple jump and fifth to the large school competitors in the long jump. He was very close in the triple jump with a mark of 44 feet, 10 inches, only one-half of an inch back from the third place finisher.

“Kyle had a similar fate in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, one and one-half inches, to finish less than four inches out of the third qualifying spot. He had a great two years as an Islander and owns school records in both the 100-meter dash and the triple jump.

“Ben Enowitz's second place finish in the 3,200 meters was one spot lower than he'd hoped for but he did well considering he'd missed several weeks of practice because of a lower back injury early this season. Ben will matriculate to Harvard University in the fall, where he'll compete in Cross Country and Track in the Ivy League. 

“As a freshman pole vaulter, Bartsch didn't know which end of the pole went in the ground and which end to hold, when he started this season With his gymnastic physique and lots of gymnastic experience as a kid, he took to the event like the proverbial duck takes to water. With only a few weeks of practice he won the freshman vault at the Frosh/Soph championships earlier this season and was the only freshman in the San Diego Section to advance to the CIF Finals from either division. He's just getting started in what appears to be a very promising pole vault career.

“David Grimes was the first alternate after the preliminaries in the 800-meter run and scratched (another athlete who qualified ahead of Grimes, opted not to compete in the event, allowing Grimes to participate) into the field. His goal was to break 2 minutes. My advice to him was to run the first 400 in 59 seconds.

“This, however, was the CIF Championship and he hooked a pace that passed the first lap in around 57 seconds and maybe a bit faster. This fast pace took its toll 100 meters from the finish when the bear jumped on his back (that's an actual track term). He held on to finish ninth with a time of 2:03.7, and emerged a little wiser from the experience. 

“In the Girls' events both Sallie Privett and up-and-coming freshman Annie Lovering made the winners' podium (Top 6) in the 1,600 meters. Privett was third with a time of 5:11.20; Lovering was sixth in 5:23.36. The girls' distance runs are very strong this year in both divisions and these are excellent results. Privett later came back in the 3,200 meters for another third place finish with a time of 11:47.19. 

“Also making the coveted podium trip was Danielle Gillberg, with a fifth place finish in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 16.92. Watch out Sara Player (CHS ’07 and school record holder in the event), she's only a sophomore. Rounding out the CIF Finals experience was Briana Giorgione who placed seventh (ouch) with a vault of 8 feet 3 inches. Finishers five through seven all vaulted the same height, but Briana was placed seventh based on the most misses at lower heights (double ouch).

Blumenthal Competes in Ultimate Frisbee Championships

Bryce Blumenthal (CHS ’04), who was an Islander multi-sport athlete (baseball and football), has taken up a new sport at U.C. Santa Cruz, and that is Ultimate Frisbee. A few weeks ago, Blumenthal helped the Banana Slugs defeat the No. 1 seeded University of British Colombia and No. 2 Stanford in the NCAA Western Regionals. The pair of victories earned the Slugs a trip to the NCAA Championships held recently at the University of Colorado.

Blumenthal, led UC Santa Cruz to a ninth place finish in the NCAA Finals. Known for his leaping, receiving and defensive abilities, Blumenthal played for four years for the Slugs. Santa Cruz finished with an overall record of 21-24 this season.

Save the Date – July 4 15K and 5K Race Coming Soon

A reminder to complete your application for the July 4^th 15K Run and 5K Run/Walk which once again starts in Tidelands Park. Event proceeds benefit the Islander Sports Foundation as well as Coronado High School and Coronado Middle School sports.

Fees to enter the race are $27 with the price increasing to $31 after Friday, June 20^th. Day of event registration remains at $35. Entry fees include a colorful commemorative t-shirt for all participants. To register for the event, go to www.kathyloperevents.com or call 619-298-7400 for additional information.